FCA Email Signature Requirements (UK Financial Firms)

The Financial Conduct Authority's General Provisions sourcebook sets out what regulated firms must say about their status. GEN 4.3.1R requires a firm to take reasonable care that every letter, or electronic equivalent, that it or its employees send to a retail client in connection with regulated activities includes the prescribed statutory status disclosure. For a typical FCA-authorised firm the wording is a variant of authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and firms authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority use the dual-regulated wording in GEN 4 Annex 1AR. Email to retail clients counts as the electronic equivalent of a letter, which is why UK advisers, brokers, lenders, and insurers put the disclosure in their email signature. Most firms also include their Firm Reference Number so recipients can check the Financial Services Register, and appointed representatives state the name of their principal firm. Companies add the details required by UK company law, and many add a scam warning about cloned firms impersonating regulated businesses. Financial promotion rules apply separately to marketing content, so promotional banners in a regulated firm's signature should go through the same approval process as other promotions.